Defining weaning age of camel calves in eastern Ethiopia

dc.contributor.authorChibsa, Merga B.
dc.contributor.authorMummed, Yesihak Yusuf
dc.contributor.authorKurtu, Mohamed Y.
dc.contributor.authorLeta, Mengistu U.
dc.date.accessioned2014-08-08T12:12:15Z
dc.date.available2014-08-08T12:12:15Z
dc.date.issued2014-06
dc.description.abstractThis experiment was conducted with the aim to define the weaning age of camel calves managed with pastoral farmers in eastern Ethiopia. Twenty camel calves (11 males and 9 females) were randomly assigned into five blocks based on their birth date. Calves within a block were further assigned to one of the four Treatments (T1, T2, T3, and T4). Calves in T1, T2, and T3 were weaned at 6, 8, and 10 months of age and supplemented with concentrate from weaning up to 12 months of age, respectively. They were supplemented with a mixture of noug seed (Guizotia abyssinica) cake and wheat bran at a ratio of 40% and 60%, respectively. Calves in T4 (control) were weaned at 12 months of age, hence were not supplemented with concentrate. Calves in all treatment groups browsed natural vegetation for 8 hours a day. Post weaning performance was evaluated for all calves at 14 months of age. The mean daily concentrate intake was significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the dry season compared to the wet season. Daily weight gain was significantly (P < 0.001) affected by treatment, sex of calves, and season of birth. Calves supplemented with concentrate gained relatively more weight (P < 0.001) than calves not supplemented. Calves born during the short rainy season gained more weight than those born during the short and long dry season. Three calves died, two from T3 and one from T4. From the study it was concluded that weaning calves at 8 months of age and supplementing with concentrate to the age of 12 months of age resulted in good post weaning growth rate and survivability of calves.en_US
dc.description.librarianhb2014en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Camel Research Project and University of Haramayaen_US
dc.description.urihttp://www.springerplus.comen_US
dc.identifier.citationChibsa, MB, Mummed, YY, Kurtu, MY & Leta, MU 2014, 'Defining weaning age of camel calves in eastern Ethiopia', SpringerPlus, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1-5.en_US
dc.identifier.issn2193-1801 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1186/2193-1801-3-313
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/41136
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherSpringeren_US
dc.rights© 2014 Chibsa et al.; licensee Springer. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.en_US
dc.subjectCamel calvesen_US
dc.subjectConcentrate supplementationen_US
dc.subjectWeaning ageen_US
dc.titleDefining weaning age of camel calves in eastern Ethiopiaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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